When All Else Fails, They Take You To War

Generally speaking, the tenor of my commentaries reflects the severity of my beliefs. And recently, fears, which is why the past few weeks have spawned some of the deepest, and most serious, articles of my career. To wit, in the past two days alone, I published “the most important article I’ve ever written,” regarding my staunch belief that all hope for America will be lost if Hillary Clinton is elected; and “frankly, I’m terrified,” on how rapidly civility is collapsing in this historic political campaign, which is rapidly turning into the most polarizing political event since the Vietnam War – and perhaps, given the ugly direction things are turning, the Civil War. Not to mention, last week’s “mark this date, global war has begun” – of how, politically, economically, and monetarily, the “every man for himself” syndrome has taken hold; to the point that, frankly, it’s difficult to envision a scenario where major military confrontations do not result.

To that end, we are less than four weeks from what will unquestionably be a major inflection point in American – and global – history. Frankly, even my mettle is being weakened, as the relentless media attacks on Trump explode – whilst criticism of the Clinton cabal is essentially non-existant – depicting just how brainwashed, bribed, and entitled the Exceptional States of America have become, despite a mountain of evidence that its best days long ago passed, with its unequivocally “worst days” dead ahead. In the case of the “1%,” the unprecedented wealth disparity they have enjoyed has caused them – led by criminal “leaders” like the Clintons – to become so drunk on ill-begotten wealth and power, they will do anything to maintain it. As for the 99%, they have become so dependent on the nanny state; and so impoverished, mentally and financially; they’ve all but given up. Which is exactly why authoritarians like the Clintons continue to receive votes, despite the indisputable failure of their policies. Not to mention, a record of criminality and abuse of power that Trump couldn’t match on his worst day. That said, I still hold out hope that Joe and Jane Sixpack will stand up to the tyranny next month, irrespective of the near-term uncertainty – and likely, chaos – a Trump victory would undoubtedly bring. As frankly, the difference between hope for an American resurgence, and a guaranteed trip to the “second world,” will be decided November 8th.

I’ll get to today’s principal topic momentarily, a natural extension of the ominous trends noted above. However, today’s “horrible headlines” – or better put, “PM-bullish, everything else bearish” – are so ugly, and diverse, I’d be borderline negligent to ignore them, particularly in light of their at least indirect, and in many cases direct, relationship they have to today’s ominous topic. Starting with the two biggest lies in the powers that be’s propagandized, market manipulated world today, that 1) Deutche Bank’s catastrophic collapse has been averted, and 2) OPEC actually plans to cut production.

Regarding the former, after selling $4.5 billion of bonds this week at, for all intents and purposes, junk bond yields, it’s difficult to believe Standard & Poor’s can hold out on its inevitable downgrade of DB’s credit rating to junk status, particularly in light of last week’s revelations that 1) it’s being sued by Italy for falsifying Banca Monte Paschi’s books; 2) that same fraud has been discovered in the accounts of at least 30 other DB clients; 3) the ECB fraudulently allowed DB to pretend it passed its recent stress tests; and 4) despite the “rumors” – like the one that prompted a 25% stock surge, within minutes of it trading below the €10/share level that likely would have triggered its toxic “CoCo” bonds – DB hasn’t even come close to settling with the U.S. Departement of Justice. To that end, this morning’s “hiring freeze” announcement alerted the world anew, that despite the new “liquidity” from the junk bond proceeds, DB’s financial situation could not be more precarious. Which is probably why the stock is freefalling anew, as it prepares for its final death spiral in the coming months or weeks.

As for the latter, the evidence supporting the TRUTH I discussed the second the fraudulent “production freeze” announcement was published – i.e., there never was an agreement, and never will be – is piling up as rapidly as mainstream attacks on Donald Trump. Yesterday, for instance, we learned that the latest “informal meeting” of energy ministers ended with Russia’s Rosneft, the world’s largest private oil producer, unequivocally stating it would not cut production, whilst OPEC ministers dithered about whether any production cut was possible unless non-OPEC nations like Russia cut beforehand. In other words, a complete mess of failed propaganda, in a world where oh yeah, OPEC and non-OPEC production just hit all-time high levels last month, whilst global trade collapsed at an accelerating rate. Don’t believe me? Well just last night, China, the world’s largest manufacturer, announced an utterly massive, way worse than expectations September export plunge of 10%. And what do you know, the PBOC devalued the Yuan again, to a fresh seven-year low – mere days after it was included in the IMF’s “strategic currency basket.”

Speaking of crashing currencies, and global war, how about the UK Pound plunging to its lowest level, against a basket of global currencies, in the nation’s roughly 1,000 year history? This, as the historic London housing bubble is bursting; the BOE is dramatically expanding QE; and the European Union is demanding a whopping €20 billion BrExit “divorce settlement,” under the guise of “works in progress” approved by the UK whilst still in the EU. In other words, anyone who thinks the UK hasn’t been harmed by the BrExit – as much purposefully as inadvertently – is whistling past the graveyard. To that end, just as the case will be with America if Hillary Clinton loses, the UK’s short-term pain will be unprecedentedly intense, no matter how much better the long-term prognosis looks.

And did I mention yesterday’s September 21st FOMC “minutes” publication? Which, as always, I write in quotes – as, unquestionably, they are doctored to suit current market conditions, as part of the Fed’s (and now, OPEC’s) de facto “new FOMC statement each day” propaganda strategy.

As expected, their usual rhetoric of rate hike “imminence” was at a fever pitch. And yet, the same boilerplate “data dependency” language couched its supposedly hawkish intentions – which wasn’t helped by the past two days’ data, in which the Fed’s “favorite” employment indicators, the JOLTS hiring/firing survey and its own “Labor Market Conditions Index” both plunged to Hades. Let alone, their all but admitting what I have shouted from the rooftops for years. Which is, they are in fact more “market dependent” than anything else, in espousing that “…(stock and bond market) volatility increased somewhat in the last few days (before the FOMC meeting) as market participants focused on Central bank communications in the U.S…” Too bad they didn’t also discuss Precious Metal “volatility” – as I assure you, it’s as much a consideration as anything else!

Anyhow, the net result is the same bluster as always, about the “imminent “ tightening that cannot, and WILL NOT ever occur. As if, per what happened when they arrogantly attempted to raise rates last year, amidst far stronger economic conditions than today, they attempt such an egregious act of blatant political suicide as another rate hike, not only will global financial markets collapse, whilst Precious Metals surge, but the dollar will explode against nearly all currencies – the vast majority of which, are already trading at, near, or in many cases well below previous all-time lows. Which, in turn, would not only destroy whatever’s left of the U.S. economy, but catalyze an utter explosion of foreign bond defaults. Which is probably why November “rate hike odds” have plunged below 10%; with December, in the Fed’s warped Keynesian view, being its last chance to “save face” – if crashing the global economy with a quarter point rate hike can be considered saving face. Amazingly, the “market” actually believes a December rate hike is forthcoming – which again, I write in quotes due to my strong suspicion that, like “election result odds,” the y are rigged to foster the perception of economic strength, particularly ahead of an historic election.

Back to today’s principal topic, one of the principal reasons, amongst countless others, that Precious Metals are being so viciously attacked – every second of every day, with every semblance of a rally met with fresh waves of naked shorted paper (which thankfully, has started to produce a material supply response) – is because the drumbeats of war are growing louder each day.

I mean, just how much more obvious can it be that Hillary Clinton’s Washington wants war with Russia, in its latest – and likely, grandest – attempt to scapegoat the “Commies” for our own policy failures? First, in publicly blaming Russia for Wikileak-reported hacks of the Democratic Party archives. Next, of “humanitarian atrocities” in Syria, resulting in the outright severing of U.S./Russian diplomatic ties. And now, exhorting equally politically desperate “allies” to join the “war effort” – including France, where soon-to-be-deposed President Francois Hollande cancelled a meeting with Putin, supposedly due to Russia’s NATO veto of a French-proposed Syrian no-fly zone; and the UK, which ordered Royal Air Force pilots to fire on any Russian jets considered “hostile.” This, on a day when the U.S. entered another war, in Yemen, where it fired on anti-Saudi Arabian rebels one day after a Wikileak revealed Hillary Clinton’s personal belief that Saudi Arabia, a major Clinton Foundation contributor, has been funding ISIS; and one week after Congress unanimously enacted a law enabling 9/11 victims’ families to sue the Saudi government!

I mean, just last week U.S. General Mark Milley, in a speech that could have come from a bad movie script, belligerently warned – quite obviously, Russia specifically – that “I want to be clear to those who want to do us harm, and destroy our way of life and those of our friends and allies…the U.S. military…will stop you, beat you harder than you have every been beaten before…We will destroy any enemy, anywhere, any time.” Prompting, in turn, Russia to engage in a massive “bomb shelter” drill with 40 million citizens, whilst repatriating thousands of Russian children studying abroad, and moving nuclear-armed missiles to the Russian/Polish border. This, as foreign minister Sergei Lavrov responded to U.S. bellicosity by espousing “its not just rhetorical Russophobia, but aggressive steps that really hurt our national interests, and pose a threat to our national security” – prompting Duma leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky to urge Americans to vote for Trump, or “risk being dragged into a nuclear war.”

In other words, it could not be more obvious that the same direction the global economy is taking – led by the horrific, historically damaging actions of the Fed; is being followed politically, monetarily, and with increasing likelihood, militarily. As the saying goes, “when all else fails, they take you to war.” Which clearly, is rapidly moving from “possible” to “probable” to “fait accompli” status. And if you can’t motivate yourself to PROTECT your assets from the inevitable “fallout” under such dire circumstances, I’m not sure what more it will take. Other than the equally inevitable financial collapse; at which point, it will already be too late.

4 Comments

Edward Neumann
on October 13, 2016 at 2:27 pm

Andy,

Your observations and comments are spot on. I have family in Eastern Europe and “things” there are not good! The currencies of the region are dropping in value, life is getting harder. Russians are becoming very nationalistic and I feel many would not object to an attack on the US and her allies. I hope we get through this period with out shots being fired but the odds are getting worse each day! The only positive action that I feel an individual can do is to get prepared for the storm that is coming. Getting rid of “paper assets” is a foundational part of this preparation.
WHAT YOU DO IS IMPORTANT!!!
Thank you for being the guard at the gate! Please keep sounding the alarm, there are many of us listening and taking action!

Robert Clement
on October 13, 2016 at 8:16 pm

There is much talk of the Fed raising interest rates by 1/4 percent. You do not seem to believe the Fed could take this action without crashing the stock markets. Maybe the Fed will raise rates and then support the stock market through stock purchases. I believe it was just last week that Larry Summers floated a trial balloon about the Fed purchasing assets such as stock shares.

It isinteresting to note that Bill Holter who used to write blogs here has written an article on Jim Sinclairs Mineset website . He is saying very similar things to what Andy says in this article . I have a very considerable respect for the opinions of both Andy and Bill . I have never in my lifetime seen a world situation like we have at the present time . I , too, am terrified .

Upcoming Events

Meet Miles Franklin investment advisors, attend a Q & A session or join us at an upcoming conference.

Experience Excellence

For 29 years the staff at Miles Franklin has delivered excellence in many ways – knowledge, relationships, product offers and customer service. They understand the macro/micro economics and geo–political advantages to investing in precious metals to protect your wealth. The team at Miles Franklin build life-long relationships because they custom-tailor solutions for investing in precious metals to meet each individual’s needs and circumstances. Our brokers have or can acquire most any type of precious metal from anywhere in the world. Each and every order is managed and monitored from start to finish. We are licensed, bonded, and carry an A+ BBB rating.